Kyrie Irving can become a free agent next offseason, and there may be some concern within the Celtics organization that the All-Star point guard will leave…

To join the Knicks?

According to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, Boston is “scared” of the possibility of Irving signing elsewhere, and New York could be “a real threat” to land him:

“I think they’re scared. I think they’re scared and should be scared to some degree of Kyrie Irving walking in 2019. I know he had a great year, but you know there are people in Cleveland that will tell you that the Knicks should be considered a real threat for Kyrie Irving. Because Kyrie had talked about it, about playing with the Knicks with some players in that Cleveland locker room, from what I was told.

You know things can change. Obviously, you go to Boston and you become the face of the franchise. You’re on a winning team. Maybe the mindset has changed significantly?”

After being traded from Cleveland to Boston last summer, Irving averaged 24.4 points and 5.1 assists per game this season.